1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hinge, half of which is attached to an open frame and the other half is attached to a door, for holding the door so as to be capable of rotating. The hinge is advantageous for a use in a double hinged door because there is no need to reposition the hinge when the door is reversed.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there exists a popular type of door hinge wherein half of the hinge is attachable to an open frame and the other half is attachable to a door, and wherein each half can be connected to and disconnected from the other half as either half of both halves is/are moved in a vertical direction against each other. This type of hinge includes a xe2x80x9cleft-typexe2x80x9d and a xe2x80x9cright-typexe2x80x9d wherein the former is attached to the left side of the door and the latter is attached to the right side of the door. This type of hinge is structured so as to be attached to either the front side or the back side in the door edge, so that it can be used only as either the xe2x80x9cleft-typexe2x80x9d or the xe2x80x9cright-typexe2x80x9d.
Consequently, in general, when ordering a door, it is required to designate if the door is the xe2x80x9cleft-typexe2x80x9d or the xe2x80x9cright-typexe2x80x9d, and accordingly, the xe2x80x9cleft-typexe2x80x9d or the xe2x80x9cright-typexe2x80x9d hinge is attached to an open frame and the door prior to shipping. And, a marking of either the xe2x80x9cleft-typexe2x80x9d or the xe2x80x9cright-typexe2x80x9d is applied on a package of the open frame and the door during the packing process. However, despite an effort in the marking, unordered type of open frames and doors are sometimes shipped by a mistake. Further, it is necessary to produce both the xe2x80x9cleft-typexe2x80x9d and the xe2x80x9cright-typexe2x80x9d products in each model, so that a maker of the products must run operations, calculating demands and production ratio of the xe2x80x9cleft-typexe2x80x9d and the xe2x80x9cright-typexe2x80x9d.
When there is a requirement of reversing an opening direction of a door (which referrers a direction toward which a door is opened) in such occasion as a renovation of a house, it is impossible to reverse the direction if the door is provided with the above-described conventional hinge.
There have been provided hinges that can be used both as the left-type and the right-type by the applicant of the present application and others. (See, for example, Japanese Provisional Utility Model Publication Nos. 4-52177, 4-41075, 59-175573, 59-146477, 59-128876, 59-10474 and 58-195763, Japanese Provisional Patent Publication Nos. 57-68482, 55-16171 and 48-59243, Japanese Provisional Utility Model Publication No. 5-75378, Japanese Provisional Patent Publication No. 10-246055, and Japanese Provisional Utility Model Publication No. 5-75378.)
As a hinge used both as the left-type and the right-type, there has been provided so called a flag-shaped hinge. The flag-shaped hinge, as illustrated in FIG. 8, comprises a frame-side half 91 having a vertical axis 66, which is attached to an open frame and a door-side half 91 having a vertical sleeve 63 for receiving the vertical axis 66, which is attached to a door. The flag-shaped hinge is structured as such that either the frame-side half 91 or the door-side half 92 is turned over or turned upside down in order to use both as the left-type and the right-type.
Further, a hinge as illustrated in FIG. 9 (which is disclosed in Japanese Provisional Patent Publication Nos. 48-59243 and 59-128876) is structured as such that a pair of halves 95, 95, each of which comprises a vertical sleeve 63, are coupled with a single vertical axis 66 above and below intervening a flange 67 in between. And, as illustrated in FIG. 10, the half 95 of the hinge is reversed and turned upside down in a same plane in order to reposition the vertical sleeve.
This type of hinge is structured as such that the door-side half is shaped symmetrical about the vertical center line of the door edge which the door-side-half is attached to in such a form that it does not close neither to the front side nor the back side of the door. Therefore, this hinge can be used both as the xe2x80x9cleft-typexe2x80x9d and the xe2x80x9cright-typexe2x80x9d by rotating the door upon vertical axis of the door from side to side, repositioning the vertical axis 66 and the vertical sleeve 63 of the hinge to the side which the door is directed to open.
That is, when an opening direction of the door is to be reversed, first, the door-side half of the hinge should be removed from the door by detaching the set screws, and then it should be repositioned followed by a reversing operation or by other similar operations, and finally it should be reattached to the proper position of the door. With such operation, an opening direction of the door can be reversed from the left to the right or vise versa. However, there is a drawback in this art that it requires a lot of labor in detaching the set screws, reattaching the door and the like.
Further, if the set screws are not screwed tight enough or if they are screwed into holes which were formed as the set screws were unscrewed therefrom, the set screws lose their holding power and at worst the door may drop out of the open frame.
Consequently, it is too difficult to perform a repositioning operation with such type of hinges in the field, especially in a construction of a complex housing where a numerous number of doors are supposed to be attached in a shorter period of time. Such operation is in fact impossible to complete. Because of the above-mentioned reason, this type of conventional hinge is generally attached to a door prior to it is shipped, and a marking of the xe2x80x9cleft-typexe2x80x9d or the xe2x80x9cright-typexe2x80x9d is applied on a package through a conventional manner, even though the hinge is basically structured as both types.
In addition, if the set screws (which are wood screws and are 30 mm to 40 mm in length and four to six of the screws are needed to obtain enough strength) are insufficiently attached, they tend to loosen as the door intermittently swings. Then, the door may indeed drop out of the open frame over the long term of use. In order to avoid such danger, when the conventional hinge is to be attached in the field, a power tool such as an electric screwdriver was used instead of a hand operated screwdriver. There is also a concern of decrease in a strength of the set screws caused by a worker of lower skill who fails to attach the set screws properly.
Further, since the hinge is repositioned in the door, there remains a lot of holes in the door where the set screws were once screwed into. Such remaining holes deteriorates the appearance of the door and the retentive of the wood screws as well.
Besides the above-described type of hinge, there is provided another type of hinge which is so called a horizontally connecting-disconnecting type, which is such that a door-side half of the hinge is provided with a opening mouth into which a horizontal member of a frame-side half is inserted along the width direction (which is the direction from the front side to the back side of the door or vise versa) of the door. This type of hinge is used both as the left-type and the right-type (See, for example, Japanese Provisional Patent Publication No. 9-317300).
According to this type of hinge, when an opening direction of the door is to be reversed in the field, it is unnecessary to reposition the door-side half of the hinge. However, the door may drop out of the open frame if set screws for the horizontal member loosen. Further, since the frame-side half of the hinge is not repositioned, the open frame is limited to use either as the left-type or the right-type. Therefore, it is required to produce the open frames of the left-type and the right-type as well.
When concerning a packing of a door, since each conventional hinge illustrated in FIGS. 8 to 10 has vertical sleeve 63 protruding out of the door, the hinge may be damaged during a shipping process and a package of such door becomes larger and complicated. As a door handle 61 is fixed to a door with a single screw, it is easy to detach the handle 61 from the door prior to shipments. Contrary to this, a hinge is fixed to a door with four to six of wood screws and there is required a considerable amount of time for detaching the hinge from the door, so that the hinge is generally attached to the door and is shipped in combination with the door.
That is, as illustrated in FIG. 10, since a vertical sleeve 63 of a hinge protrudes out of the door, the hinge is easily damaged and deformed.
Further, as illustrated in FIG. 11, there is needed a buffer material 102 for protecting the vertical sleeve 63 protruding out of the hinge besides a corrugated fiberboard for packing. Further, since there is created a hollow above the door except the area the vertical sleeve 63 is positioned, there needed to provide a packing material as such as a buffer material 103 for fixing the hollow. Therefore, the package of the door combined with the hinge becomes as twice thicker than the package of a door alone which is illustrated in FIG. 12, and it requires much more buffer material. Further, since there is created a large hollow in the package, if a number of packages are piled above and below, the piled packages become unstable and they may collapse especially when they are carried by such as a truck.
Further, according to the conventional hinge as illustrated in FIGS. 8 to 10, which is a type of hinge wherein a half of the hinge connects to and disconnects from the other half as either half is moved in a vertical direction against the other half, a vertical axis 66 is inserted into the vertical sleeve 63 as a door is moved downward after it is moved upward. Therefore, there is needed a space above the door, which should be longer than the vertical axis 66 in length. If there is not a space of more than 10 cm above the door, it is impossible to attach the door. Similarly, it is difficult to attach the door if the surroundings of the door is improper.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a hinge that can be used both as the xe2x80x9cleft-typexe2x80x9d and the xe2x80x9cright-typexe2x80x9d, overcoming the above-described drawbacks, thereby avoiding the need to produce both types of hinges and making it easy to pack and attach the hinges and other related parts in the field.
A hinge according to a first aspect of the present invention is characterized in that it comprises a frame-side base member 41 adapted to be fixed to an open frame 10 and a door-side base member 42 adapted to be fixed to a door 20, wherein the frame-side base member 41 is connected to a first plate 31 and the door-side base member 42 is connected to a second plate 32 which is hinged to the first plate 31, for holding the door 20 so as to be capable of rotating. The second plate 32 can be disconnected from the door-side base member 42. The door-side base member 42 is shaped to be symmetrical about the vertical center line of the door edge, and is imbedded in the edge of the door 20 without any portions thereof protruding from the door 20. Further, the door-side base member 42 is provided with a slit 44 which penetrates the member 42 in the width direction of the door 20 and into which the second plate 32 is insertable from both the front and back sides of the door 20. There is also provided a lock apparatus to lock the second plate 32 inserted into the slit 44.
A hinge according to a second aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, besides the first aspect of the present invention, the back end of the second plate 32 is connected to the back end of the first plate 31 with adjusting screws 37 capable of moving upward and downward. The front end of the first plate 31 is inserted into a longitudinal opening 43 formed in the frame-side base member 41, which is wider than the thickness of the first plate 31, and is connected to the frame-side base member 41 with adjusting screws 47, 49 capable of moving in the width direction of the first plate 31. The top end of the first plate 31 is connected to the frame-side base member 41 with an adjusting screw and an adjusting cam 45 capable of disconnecting.
A hinge according to a third aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, besides the first and second aspect of the present inventions, there is provided an opening 34 in the second plate 32 at the center of the top end. There is also provided a lock apparatus composed of an elastic protrusion 51, 52 which is compressed while it is pressed by the second plate 32 and extends when it faces the opening 34. The lock position is released by compressing the elastic protrusion 51, 52.
According to the first aspect of the present invention, the first plate, the second plate and the frame-side base member are separable from the door-side base member, and the combination can be connected to both the front and back sides of the door any number of times by inserting the second plate into the slit of the door-side base member by a one-touch operation. Therefore, the hinge according to the present invention can be used both as the left-type and the right-type corresponding to a request in the field.
A combination of the first plate, the second plate and the frame-side base member can be packed while they are disconnected from the door-side base member, and the door-side base member is imbedded in the door edge as such that no portions thereof protrudes out of the door, so that they can be transported in a stable posture.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the advantages of the first aspect of the invention, the door can be moved in three directions, including a vertical direction relative to the open frame, a horizontal direction along the door surface when the door is closed, and a width (thickness) direction along the door edge when the door is closed. Therefore, the position of the door can be fine adjusted when and after the door is attached.
According to the third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the advantages of the first and second aspects of the invention, there is provided a lock apparatus composed of merely a elastic protrusion which comprises, for example, a coil spring, an engaging member and a blade spring, so that the lock apparatus is simple in structure.